In the mid-50s, as rock’n’roll swept across the USA, the Cajun youth of South Louisiana and South East Texas absorbed the R&B sounds emanating from New Orleans. This was reflected in their music, making it so distinctive. They thrilled to the sound of Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis and Huey Smith and performed their songs with the bands they formed, while the area’s new breed of songwriters – Bobby Charles, Jimmy Donley, Jivin’ Gene, etc – assimilated the Crescent City style in their work. Swamp pop was born, although the genre had yet to be named.
The Midnighters were an American R&B group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard, and the world-wide dance craze The Twist. Between 1953 and 1962 The Midnighters scored almost two dozen hits on the National Pop & R&B Charts. Their big hits included the million-selling Billboard Top 10 pop hits "Finger Popping Time" (for which they received a 1961 Grammy Award nomination), and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go".The Midnighters also enjoyed 13 Top 10 R&B Hits,including 3 R&B # 1's.
After spending much of the late '70s and the early '80s as a cult band, Golden Earring returned to an international level of popularity in 1982 with the hit single (and popular MTV attraction) "Twilight Zone." This song and seven others are featured on Cut, a solid album that found Golden Earring starting to deviate from the pop/rock formula they perfect on No Promises…No Debts and Prisoner of the Night. Like those albums, Cut works its way through a series of guitar-based rock songs built on strong hooks. However, the band allows themselves to instrumentally stretch out a bit on some of the songs this time out.
One Shot 80: Da oltre di 10 anni è la collana più completa dedicata ai successi Pop e Dance della decade che va dal 1980 al 1989. Dopo il successo ottenuto con la prima serie arrivata al 20° volume, anche grazie agli innumerevoli Fans che con e-mail e cartoline contenute all'interno del CD hanno collaborato alla riuscita con le loro segnalazioni, ecco che la Universal Music Italia, propone quello che viene considerato il completamento dell'opera. La Nuova One Shot, come forse avete già capito, oltre ad essere rinnovata nel look, è rinnovata anche nei contenuti, 2 CD per volume che raccolgono anno per anno tutto quello che gli anni 80 hanno offerto.
He may not be a household name, but die-hard blues fans know Little Milton as a superb all-around electric bluesman – a soulful singer, an evocative guitarist, an accomplished songwriter, and a skillful bandleader. He's often compared to the legendary B.B. King – as well as Bobby "Blue" Bland – for the way his signature style combines soul, blues, and R&B, a mixture that helped make him one of the biggest-selling bluesmen of the '60s (even if he's not as well-remembered as King). As time progressed, his music grew more and more orchestrated, with strings and horns galore. He maintained a steadily active recording career all the way from his 1953 debut on Sam Phillips' legendary Sun label, with his stunning longevity including notable stints at Chess (where he found his greatest commercial success), Stax, and Malaco.
JSP's New Orleans Guitar compiles four CDs of performances by Smiley Lewis, Guitar Slim, and T-Bone Walker. It's hard to go wrong with these 102 recordings cut between 1947 and 1955. The tracks have been remastered, making the majority of this material sound great. Unlike other packages of this type, the liner notes are informative, listing personnel, dates, and a concise history without going on ad nauseam. As an extra bonus this is a budget-priced set, making it highly recommended, especially for the blues novice.